Rocky Point Lions Prepare for 7th Annual Feast

The Rocky Point Lions Club will be hosting our seventh annual “Lions” Taste of Long Island event at The Inn at East Wind in Wading River, New York on Wednesday, April 9, 2014 at 6:30 PM featuring some of the best local cuisine under one roof.  The net proceeds from the event will be divided equally between the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Rocky Point Post 6249 and the Rocky Point Lions Club.  We are also proud to announce our honoree, Joe Cognitore, of Fischer/Hewins VFW Post #6249 in Rocky Point.

The Taste of Long Island highlights delicious specialties from numerous local restaurants, wineries, micro-breweries, bakeries, beverage companies, and off-premise caterers.  There is a delicacy to tempt anyone’s palate as attendees can try samples from that restaurant or bakery you always drive by and want to stop but never get the chance to.  This is the 7th year of this annual event and we expect to have one of our largest list of food vendors ever and the price of $60 per person (before April 2nd) and $70 (after April 2nd) is a bargain.  If you are a vendor and would like to participate, please contact Bill Johnson for more information about the event at RockyPointLions@Hotmail.com.

The funds raised at this event will benefit those in need locally.  The VFW will use its share of the proceeds from this event to support returning veterans from the Iraq and Afghan wars.  The Rocky Point Lions Club serves the communities of Mount Sinai, Miller Place, Sound Beach, Rocky Point, Shoreham, and Wading River.  Monies raised by the club are used to support programs and individuals within these communities in many ways including: donations to outreach programs, food banks, assistance to families and individuals in need, eye examinations and eyeglasses for those who cannot otherwise afford them, scholarships to graduating seniors in the four high schools in our service area and community improvement projects. Also donations to VISIONS for the Blind, Heritage Trust Fund , Lion's Camp Badger, The Guide Dog Foundation and many other worthy causes. In addition the Club supports Lions International with financial assistance in meeting humanitarian needs throughout the world.  The money received from this event will help the Club continue in our efforts to achieve our motto …WE SERVE.

The honoree for this year’s event is Joe Cognitore.  Joe is an active community leader and his accomplishments within the VFW are numerous.  Joe is originally from Brooklyn and graduated from Farmingdale High School.  He was drafted into the US Army and served two years as a sergeant in Vietnam.  Joe joined the Rocky Point VFW in 1991 and has been active since.  He assumed the position of Commander in 1994 and Joe views the VFW as his “home away from home … a real fraternity of volunteers”.  Under his leadership, the Post has reached out to fellow veterans, active military, students in Miller Place, Rocky Point and Shoreham-Wading River schools, and the Post supports Operation Veronica, where the team gets together each week to put together packages for service men and women comprised of items those in service of our country need / want when they are serving abroad.  Starting in 2010, then Assemblyman Mark Alesi contacted Joe and the Commander of the Riverhead VFW to join with the Long Island Home Builders Cares Development Corp. to aid returning Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who needed affordable housing. They worked together to get property and permits approved and houses built. As a result of the generous donation by Mark Baisch, who donated the land, the first home was completed in 2011 in Sound Beach. Mark has continued his efforts through Long Island Home Builders Cares Development Corp. resulting in a house in Lake Ronkonkoma and most recently six homes in Islandia with property donated by Computer Associates.